You guys are confusing me with all this technical jargon. I'm just going to make my car as light as possible so my stock brakes can stop her quicker (hopefully) : )

 

so...get aluminium calipers, reducing unsprung weight has more impact on handling than reducing sprung weight.

 

I just with mine would let go!!!!

 

what?

 

Let's just use full contact brakes!
http://www.newtechbrake.com/english/english.html#
...

 

I think the saleen s7 uses those. It is either that car or the mosler.

 

No mention of weight!

It looks like a horrible system to me. Complex and heavy.

 

looks like those brakes are meant more for commercial vehicles than any type of sports car. if you have contact throughout the entire sweep of the rotor, when is it supposed to dissapate heat?

i don't know, guys. some of you arguing that the four piston is better than the two piston, you don't need any larger rotor, etc. etc.
well, i know a few people that run Z06's competitively just run the factory brakes because they are apparently that good. and incidentally, the front rotors of the c5 is the same thickness as ours.
i'm not going to get into an argument as to which is better, two piston floating or four piston fixed. the answer to that lies in what you expect to do. if you want to build a full tilt race car or just the ultimate street rod, then buy the four pistons. but if you do that, then why would you argue that rotor size doesn't matter? if your like me, where cost is a factor and your looking for improved performance in both braking and handling (unsprung weight) in a street car, then two piston floating calipers make a strong case.
so, i think a few of you have lost sight of the basic argument. if you want to argue what is the best of the best, your not going to get alot of opposition. if i remember right, the original poster was asking if there was a more cost effective way of improving braking without spending the $1200 for SSBC.

 

I was curious where I read that and I did a search...wildwood billet dynalite, 2 1/2 pounds according to this:
http://www.randys-racemart.com/bildyncal.html


These are not 4 piston calipers though. I thought we were talking about corvette calipers. I know they make aftermarket calipers that are that light but, nothing will bolt right up unless you have the Force-10's. As far as I know, every other caliper has to use home made brackets.

 

Oh but yes they are 4 piston calipers, they are not a floating caliper. It's a GT (5,25") mount pattern caliper, many aftermarket calipers use the GT pattern or the 3,5" pattern.

 

Article: Stop That Shark: Brake Upgrades for '68-'82s
Magazine: Corvette Fever (March 2004)
SSBC product: Force 10 front kit A109AF and Force 10 rear kit A109AR.
Brake upgrades for '68-'82 Corvettes. How do you improve on perfection? Like most things, there is always room for improvement, and Corvettes are no exception. For Corvette fans, there are some things C4s and C5s can do much better than sharks ('68-'82). Luckily, the folks at Stainless Steel Brakes Corporation have a solution for the braking blues... After giving our system a thorough shakedown (checking all connections for leaks, and doing some slow driving and stopping to ensure everything was safe and functioning properly), we decided to let it all hang out. In 60-0-mph braking tests, we shaved 22 feet off our original stopping distance of 149 feet with the stock system--a 14.7 percent improvement. We are extremely happy with the SSBC Force 10 kit. SSBC utilizes CNC equipment for pinpoint accuracy, and the quality is much better than the 20-year-old stock pieces ... click here for the rest of the article

 

well, o.k. so what? i shaved over 15 feet off my braking distance by installing braided lines, PF metallic pads and blue oval brake fluid. all for under $150. at what price is another 5 feet worth it?
and incidentally, proper preparation of the system when installing makes a huge difference too. i read that same article. a couple things, 1) i'd write a glowing report too if SSBC either gave me or heavily discounted a set to me, and 2) who knows what might have been wrong with the system prior to them base-line testing? that info could have easily been omitted from the article, for space considerations, of course.
i'm not saying it's not true, but i wasn't there to see it and i haven't performed my own test after shelling out $1200 of my hard earned cash, so i'm just a bit skeptical. may very well be completely true, caveat emptor.

 

I don't believe the 22 ft. claim is correct. If you want to improve stopping distance, an adjustable proportioning valve is probably the cheapest improvement. The optimal proportioning depends on tires and ride height, so the stock settings can't be correct anymore.

 

Nail on the head. I've been avoiding this post as my experience is with m/cycle brakes, which many would say has got stuff all to do with Vette brakes. But a brake is a brake. Forget the theory, it's what happens in practice that matters. Find somebody with a Norton Commando & ask them what the stock front disc brake is like. If they're honest they'll tell you that it's lethal (or words to that effect). For an analogy, imagine disconnecting the front brakes on you Vette & using the emergency brake in their place, it's that bad. Then find somebody who claims their Commando front brake works & you'll very likely find that the only mod done is that the front disc (rotor) has been changed to a larger one. Forget new master cylinders with different size pistons, special pads, Aeroquip hoses or different callipers (I've tried them all), the easy & effective way of getting a front brake that works is to fit a larger rotor up front. Simple & effective (but darn ugly!). If you ever get classic bike racing on TV have a close look for any Commandos & you'll invariably see either exotic and expensive twin front discs, or a single large disc.
Lightweight callipers: Tried these as well. No noticeable improvement in stopping distance (the bike was raced around the Isle of Man on Mad Sunday by a lunatic, so accusations of the brakes having an easy time of it don't apply!). But what did improve was the handling. It'll be no different for a car. Originally it was fitted with a heavy twin leading shoe (2LS) front drum brake. It worked well on the road, but not in racing. So an aftermarket 4LS drum brake was fitted. Stopped brilliantly, impressed small boys, but weighed a ton. This was felt (painfully) when hitting a large bump: the entire wheel with its 1 ton brake was forced upwards at velocity causing the suspension to fail in fighting it. Felt through the bars as a whopping great thump & crucially, the momentum of the wheel would often cause it to leave the road. Scary. The whole bike would leap up in the air after hitting a bump. Upgrading the fork springs & internal damping controlled the wheel on large bumps, but feel over normal road surfaces was degraded to the point where it felt wooden & there was less control over rippled road surfaces as the wheel couldn't be kept fully in contact. Swapping the brake to a single 10" disc & iron calliper was a revelation. Changing the iron calliper to aluminum(sp!!!) improved it even more. With less weight to control, the suspension could be set up so that it could control the wheel after large shocks (frequent on our rubbish roads) but still give plenty of feedback & control on small bumps/dips. Overall handling was vastly improved, but it always is when unsprung weight is reduced.
Sliding callipers: would these be the same design as the Japs had on their bikes in the late 70's/early 80's? One piston in the caliper would press a pad onto one side of the rotor & the calliper would slide on it's mount so that the opposing pad contacted the other side.? Useless bl**dy things

edit. Something else with large rotors is that the swept area is increased. Not only is it moving past the pads quicker, there's also more of it passing the pads for each wheel revolution, giving more braking effect for the same pressure during the revolution.
Something to bear in mind is what you aim to use the vehicle for. A friend once had a bike with more power at the rear wheel than my L81 (yeah, I feel cheated ). He had all the racing standard goodies on it, but as they wore out & times were hard, he replaced them with good quality street parts & noticed no difference, or even an improvement (junking the racing brake pads was a good idea - they never worked on the street ). What I'm saying is it's horses for courses. If you're building a car for the racetrack then go for it. For street use then racing parts can be an expensive overkill. One thing is for sure, whether on the street or track, & that's unsprung weight is your enemy.

 

Paul, the chance of finding somone that drives a norton commando outside of britain is pretty slim, only you people would be crazy enough to ride on of those suicide machines

 

Marck,
I saw several in the US (more than I see here) & my 1st day in Aussie I saw one..... & all had the large front disc brakes. Meanwhile, back in Blighty, I occasionally see people riding them with the stock front brakes! Maybe it's the risk they enjoy? The excitement of danger? The cold finger of the Grim Reaper running down their spine. The gamble of not knowing that they'll stop in time? The regular dice with death? The type of rough, unshaven, hardy men that once put the "Grate" into Britain due to their dangerous hobbies of giving both the French & the Spanish a sound thrashing & running amok on the high seas (heady days indeed, although I missed all the fun ). But that was in the days before Norton hydraulic brakes when life was safe & easy & alternative dangerous pasttimes were required for the ruffians adrenaline highs. Scarily enough, I have ridden newer bikes with worse brakes, which must have taken some doing on the drawing board

 

Yup, if I did my math correctly, then the difference in 11.75" and 13" rotors is 10.6% more sweep area.

 

VanSteel,
You know wilwood does have their own website...
www.wilwood.com

The Dynalites are a 4 piston caliper, they do weigh 2.5 lbs.

And do you really expect me to believe a magazine article? Those guys are bought and paid for. Every thing they( not just Corvette Fever btw) test does impossible things...

end VanSteel

I used to make a bracket for the Dynalite, CNC aluminum, quite nice $50 each in machining costs, but very few people wanted them.

The superlight 4 piston is a better caliper anyway. It has a bigger pad is more rigid and the piston size is closer to stock. Also the bracket is easy to make ( the standard 3.5" mount as TT mentioned so there is a long list of possible calipers). 11.75" rotor or 13" no prob.

If there is a difference between the SSB calipers and stock in stopping distance it can only really be the pad, maybe the lines, most likely the driver. After all how do calipers change the coeficient of friction of the tire? (Not the rotor, the TIRE) And the tire is the trouble here, keeping it just on the edge of skidding is the trick, not an easy trick either mind you. Good brake lines only improve the feedback to the driver so they can feel the difference.

And stopping distance? who cares. Drum brakes are the best for that test, once. Lets see 0 to 60 to 0 runs back to back ( no cooling ducts allowed ) and then we will see about good brakes. first one to fade or boil looses.

The reply above about Norton brakes is interesting because the bike obviously needed more brake, the bigger diameter rotor would certenly help that. Also a nice example of extreme changes in unsprung weight effects!

The Stock brakes are fine for around town, but a little flexible, heavy and susceptable to heat for hard use. They CAN be made to work, and work well don't mistake that. They are not drum brakes!

But some of us like to bolt on new and cool stuff, some of which is actually better than stock. 13" rotors in front with Superlite 4 piston calipers and Dynalites in back on stock rotors is definitly better than stock. But they will NOT improve your stopping distance if that is all that you do. You'd need to balance the brakes front to rear and good tires realy help. And the Vette is pretty well balanced to start with

 

[translation] I just wish mine would let go!!!! [/translation]

His brakes are always on....

 

Thank goodness someone has been translating some of this stuff. It has become a problem the last few days. Especially the 88 bronco guy. Thank goodness for our translation members!